As the ship was coming closer to the harbour, she could see Republic city through the cabin window. The city was covered with enormous and high buildings like someone duplicated the Water Tribe and stacked it up for a sky-touching contest. Someone had swept all the snow or ice and replaced it with a dense and flat stony ground. Unlike the Southern Water Tribe, Republic city did not have unison with its architecture. She recognised the construction of Fire, Earth and Water Nation, and sometimes a mixture of them. It was like someone threw paint buckets on the canvas and called it a day. She guessed there much be Airbending buildings somewhere too.

 That was when she finally understood what Yamak meant. Republic City did not belong to any nations. It was all the nations.

 "Come one Naga! We’re here!" Korra shook Naga, who woke up with a yawn and chased after her.

 They didn't wait for the ship to stop. Korra climbed on Naga, and they leapt onto the harbour. The glare hurt her eyes as they rushed out of the shadow. But it didn't bother her. She wanted to have a close look at the city now.

 Then something caught her eyes, and she halted in astonishment.

 In the distance, an enormous statue of a young man at the size of a lighthouse was placed firmly on a small island nearby. The man wore an Air Nomad outfit and holding a staff. He looked calm. Familiar. And even though it was the first time she saw him, she knew who he was. He was her predecessor: Avatar Aang.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!”  

Korra startled as a stranger screamed at her. Many people were getting out of the ship and were blocked by her giant Polar Bear dog. She didn’t realise how long she had stared at the statue. Out of frightening, she moved Naga out of the way and ran straight ahead without thinking. She soon later learnt the hard way that was not the wisest idea.

They ran into a road and almost crashed into several cars. Naga yelped in alarm as another car passed in front of them. Korra realised they needed to get away from the road. They dashed to the sidewalk nearby, and both collapsed out of exhausted.

As her heart was still beating from the nearly-roadkill-experience, her ears started to hurt with all the tramping of footsteps, people shouting, honking of cars, and every time a train passed by the station, she wanted to curl up like a tiger armadillo.  

Why it's so noisy? Can’t they just shut up! 

How ironic. She remembered Kya had told her the same thing.

Korra hugged her knees, imaging the chilled and quiet of the Water Tribe. Naga curled up next to her. Many people walked past, but none of them paying any attention to a runaway girl and a giant beast. It's much been a common thing in here.

A woman walked past with her child. The boy was crying, and the woman warned him to behave or the spirit Kemurikage would take him away.  

Korra remembered her mother used to tell her the same thing until she kept asking her for months to invite the Kemurikage over their house until her mother gave up and told her they weren't real. The image of Senna sat on the chair, sighed helplessly while her six-year-old child ran wildly around the house calling the spirit made Korra smile. She didn't know how her mother could be so patient with her. And at night, she would nag Senna to tell a bedtime story. She remembered the story of a man who waited for his lover to return. He didn't know she was killed in an accident, so he kept waiting and waiting. Until one day, he transformed into a marble rock so he could wait for her eternity.

She didn’t want to be like the man in the story. She didn’t want to turn into a rock to wait for someone that might never come. 

Korra took a deep breath and stood up. 

She had come so far. She would not give up now. Waiting and crying wouldn't do any helps. She needed to go and look for what she wants. She just needed to find where to start.

They walked along the coastline, hopefully, to find Air Temple Island. She regretted laughing on the ship, thinking it would be easy to spot an island in the city. The city was much bigger than she thought. She didn't know how long they have run along the coast until Naga started to steer in a different direction.

Naga snifted around and Korra couldn’t get her back on track. The polar bear must have been hungry. It was already afternoon and they hadn’t eaten anything since morning. Naga left out a small yelp and started to run. She must have found something to eat. That's good. If Naga's stomach is full again, they could back on track.

 Except, what food she could find in the city full of buildings and cars? 

 “Naga!!! STOP!!”

 Korra screamed just in time to stop her from munching on a food stand. At first, she was relieved to find food as her stomach was making sound too until she realised she didn’t bring any money. They could buy food, and the beast refused to leave the possible food resource. Naga kept whining softly as Korra tried to push her away. Someone much had brought a skewer because she started to smell the nice delicious of roasting meat. It didn’t ease her hunger. It made her felt worse.

Why did the White Lotus have to take care of everything for her? They could have let her buy a few meals so she could remember she has her own savings.

 Katara or Kya could have pointed out she forgot the wallet.

 Her sifu could have said something along the line, “bring your own money or perish.”

Actually, she did say something like that. 

Korra let out a sign, cursing herself silently. She needed to move Naga away now.

“Are you alright? You looked hungry.”

Korra turned to see a boy around her age, half-biting on his skewer, pointing at her. 

“I’m fine.” The words slip out of her mind without thinking. She wasn’t sure why she was lying.

“Well, maybe not you but your dog certainly is.” The boy pointed to Naga, who was drooling and staring at his skewer. The boy plucked the meat out of the stick and threw it to Naga. The beast snapped it in the mid-air and started to chew. 

“Thank you.” Korra blinked. 

 “Nice dog. I haven’t seen one like this before.”

“Naga's a Polar Bear dog. They usually live around the polar regions.”

“Oh, so you live in Water Tribe?” the boy shrieked in excitement. “Like really live in Water Tribe?”

 She laughed, but her stomach started to make a sound again.

The boy grinned, “look like you’re hungry now! Come, I’ll buy you lunch.”

 He sounded sincere, but Korra wasn’t sure how to reply. Should she say yes or no? Would he be mad if she declines his kindness? Or would he look down on her if she just plainly accepts it? They should have a course on 'How to respond to an offer' during her training in the Southern compound.

“Hey, don’t be shy. I know how it feels to be hungry. I used to live on the street, and we ate garbage all the time!" the boy laughed, completely oblivious from the blank look of Korra, "and Narook's Seaweed Noodlery has the best Water Tribe food! You definitely have to try it!"

 He winked at her. Korra guessed he intended to look cool, but it just came out goofy. She held back a laugh.

“Thanks.” Korra was so tired of giving too many thoughts. She would just do what she wants for now. If it go sourly, then that is the problem for her future self, “And what should I call you?” 

The boy’s eyes sparkled in excitement.

“It’s Bolin.”

 ====

Naga was lying outside the noodle shop while chewing on the meat that Bolin had brought for her.

“I’ll be back,” Korra said, although she didn’t think Naga was listening with all the food in her mouth. 

The shopkeeper came toward them as they walked inside.

“How many people?” 

“Two, please,” Bolin said, raising his head high.

“Any benders?”

“What benders get anything to do with having a meal?” Korra looked at him in confusion. 

“It's for safety.” The shopkeeper said plainly.

 Korra thought he was crazy until Bolin also looked at her like she was a meteor crashed to the Earth.

“Oh, right. You’re new here.” Bolin scratched his chin, “Are you a Waterbender?”

 She felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

“I’m a Firebender,” Korra growled. I’m the Avatar.

The shopkeeper and Bolin burst into laughter as though she was joking until they saw a tiny flame dancing on her palm. 

“I'm sorry! I didn't mean to assume… Cause I, you know, I was just figuring ... with your Water Tribe getup ... that you are ... a Water Tribe ... gal.” Bolin said awkwardly. 

“I hope they don't throw me into jail for wearing the wrong clothes.” She scoffed.

“Alright, keep the fire out. No bending in here.” The shopkeeper said, “Table seven on the Bending Zone.”

 She wasn’t sure what he meant until she noticed the wooden partition stand divided the room into three areas with different signs: One for benders, one for non-benders, and the mixed area has one table at the very end.

Korra looked at Bolin for the answer, but he just shrugged. 

“I didn’t make the rule.” Bolin said, “Come on! Let’s fill our stomach!”

Korra chomped on the noodle. It tasted just like her mother's food. It wasn't long until Korra finished the meal. Bolin was still eating so she looked around the shop. Now that she wasn’t blinded by her hunger, she started to enjoy the view. The shop filled with different Water tribe tapestries. The pillar was craved with waving patterns of the ocean. If this shop was made of ice stone instead of wood, it wouldn’t be different from any buildings in Water Tribe. 

At the end of the Bending Zone, she saw a man was looking at their table. He sat with a group of people that wore fancy linen suits. But she had gone enough to her uncle's party that she knew that it was not as expensive as it looked.

“Who is that?” Korra asked. Bolin spun around to see, only to quickly turned back to the previous position. He hugged his noodle bowl and chewed nervously.

“Uh Korra, you might not know but in the city, we have rules. And one of them is if a man in a pretty suit looks at you, you don’t look back.”  

“Why?”

“You just don’t!” He groaned.

Korra stared at the man. Thin and pale. His purple hair swept on aside. He didn’t look scary or intimidate. But his smirk looked so irritable like he was asking for a fight.

The man whispered to his friends. She could see they laughed and came toward them like a pack of hungry bat-hyena. By the look, she knew they were looking for trouble, and she was full enough to put up whatever scraps they throw at her.

“Well. Well. Well.” The man stood in front of their table, he threw a glance at Bolin, who was tensed his muscle, “if it isn't the Fire Ferrets. Pro-bending's saddest excuse for a team.” 

“If this isn't the creepy man who like spying people at the corner? What do you want?” Korra narrowed her eyes. 

They looked surprised then started to laugh. 

“Did you never hear of the name Tahno? The Wolf-bat, the reigning champ three years running of Pro-bending champion?” Tahno smirked and said like it was obvious. She wasn’t sure what is Pro-bending, but she didn’t want to act like a fool, so she just rolled her eyes in response.

"Look like we have a new sheep in town," Tahno chuckled. He leaned down and whispered to her ears. “Well, in that case, if you come with me, I could give you some private lessons.” 

She was expecting him to come closer so she could send a punch toward him, but she suddenly caught the shopkeeper at the corner, who was looking at her while holding something. The look from him made her concern than Tahno, and at the other table, Bolin looked at her with dead silence. If something happened, she didn't want any trouble for Bolin. Especially, he just bought her and Naga a meal.

She stood up calmly. Tahno took a step back instantly, and they glared at each other.

“You want to go toe to toe with me pretty boy?” She warned. 

Tahno replied with a smirk. Korra put on her fingers and blew a whistle. At first, everyone looked confused for a second before a roar broke through the window and echoed through the hallway. Tahno yelped and fell backward. His friends caught him in time. He gave a weak smile like it didn’t scare him, but she knew he did. They backed away and left them alone without saying anything.

Korra laughed and scratched Naga’s ears as a thank you. She caught a look from the shopkeeper. He looked annoyed but didn't say anything and put the phone down before walking away.

“Whoa that was AMAZING!!” Bolin screamed in her ears. 

“Thanks.” Korra shrugged and sat back down, “So what is the Pro-bending?”

“Oh, I thought you were only making fun of Tahno?” Bolin blinked in surprise. 

“I’m serious.” Korra said, “and he seemed to know you too. He called you the Fire Ferret.”

“That’s my team!” Bolin said proudly.

He gave a quick rundown of Pro-bending. It was a game between two groups of benders, and each group consist of three people with different elements: Fire, Earth, Water. The team win when all the members get knocked out of the ring.

“People like seeing other people beat each other up for entertainment.”

“That does sound fun.” Korra chuckled. 

“I know right!” Bolin laughed, “Hey, would you like to have a tour in the arena? It was just on the other side of Yue Bay. I can totally get you in!” He tried to wink again.     

“Can I?”